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BY HEV. DR. C. ADAMS 



NEW YORK: 
PHILLIPS & HUNT 

CINCINN •• T'l: 
>A/' A L D E N & TOW E . 










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The "Home College Series" will contain one hundred short p&.-pen on 
a wide range of subjects— biographiail, historical, scientific, literary, domes- 
tic, political, and religious. Indeed, the religious tone will characterize all 
of them. They are wntten for every body — for all tvhose leisure is limited, 
but who desire to use the niiuutes for the enrichment of life. 

These papers contain seeds from the best gardens in all the world of 
human knowledge, and if dropped wisely into good soil, wi'l bring forth 
harvests of beauty and value. 

They are for the young — especially for young people (and older p»ople, 
too) who are out of tho schools, who are full of " business " and "cares," 
who are in danger of reading nothing, or of reading a sensational literature 
^hat is -worse than nothing. ». 

One of these papers a week read over and over, thought and talked about 
at "odd times," will give in one year a vast fund of information, an intel- 
lectual quickening, worth even more than the mere knowledge acquired, a 
taste for solid read ng, many hours of simple and wholesome pleasure, and 
ability to talk intelligently and helpfully to one's friends. 

Pastors may organize '' Home College " classes, or " Lyceum Reading 
Unions," or "Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circles," and help the 
young people to read and think and talk and live to worthier purpose. 

A young man may have his own little "college " all by himself, read thiB 
series of tracts one after the other, (there will soon be one hundred of thcra 
ready,) examine himself on them by th.e " Thought-Outline to Help the Mem- 
ory," and thus gain knowledge, and, what is better, a love of knowledge. 

Andwhat a young man may do in this respect, a young woman, and both 

old men and old women, may do, 

J. H. Vincent. 

BTew YonK, Jan., 18S8. 



Copyrigfbt, 1863, by Phillip* & Hunt, NcW .York. 



lomc (Tollcgt S>txu5. Ilirmtrn- Stbtntn-fifai!. 



DANIEL WEBSTER 



Dat^iel Webster was born at Salisbury, K. H., in Jan- 
uary, 1V82. His early school advantages, like those of most 
fannei-s' sons in New Hampshire, at that time, were very lim- 
ited. Sometimes, for two or three months, he attended 
school in his own neighborhood. Then, again, when the' 
school was " done keeping," he would be obliged to walk a 
distance of two or three miles to enjoy the advantages of 
another that was still in session. Being, in his childhood, 
somewhat more feeble than many other boys of his age, he was, 
on this account, favored with a greater amount of schooling ; 
so that a somewhat waggish half-brother was wont to remark 
that " Dan was sent to school that he might get to know as 
much as the other boys." 

One of the teachers of his boyhood — a Mr. Tappan — ad- 
dressed a letter to his quondam pupil when the latter was 
Secretary of State, relating some of the incidents of the old 
time. To this letter Mr. Webster promptly replied — accom- 
panying his answer Avith a handsome present to his old school- 
master. 

It was early discovered by his parents that Daniel pos- 
sessed a more than ordinary intellect, and that he was capa- 
ble of achievements in his studies beyond what was common. 
It was, accordingly, soon determined to afford him the ad- 
vantages of a libei-al education. It is related that when the 
father communicated to his son this important and eventful 
decision, the latter fell upon his father's neck and wept for joy. 

At fourteen years of age he was sent to the Phillips' Acad- 
emy, at Exeter, to enter upon his preparatory^ studies. On 
presenting himself for examination as a candidate for admis- 
sion, Dr. Abbot, the preceptor, gave him, as a reading exer- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



cisc, tlie twenty-second eliapter of Matthew. The precept 
heard liini read with the profoundest interest, and so great 
was he impressed and astonished at the excellence of tl 
reading, that he proceeded no farther wdth the examinatio 
but at once said to him, "Young man, you are qualified i 
enter this institution." 

He immediately and diligently entered upon his studie 
and his superior scholarship was soon apparent. After bein 
a month at the academy, on occasion of a general examinj 
tion of his class, at the close, the teacher announced his dt 
cision as follows : " Webster, you will pass into the othe 
room, and join a higher class. Boys, you will take your fina 
leave of \Vebster, for you will never see him again." 

One thing, however, strange to say, Webster could neve 
do while at the academy. lie could never declaim. " '. 
could not," he says, " make a declamation. I could not speal 
before the school. Many a piece did I commit to memory 
and recite and rehearse in my own room over and over again 
yet when the day came, when the school collected to heai 
declamations, as my name was called, and I saw all eyes 
turned to my seat, I could not raise myself from it. Some- 
times the instructors frowned, sometimes they smiled. But 
I never could command sufficient resolution." This is cer- 
tainly a most noticeable fact of a youth who afterward be- 
came the greatest orator of his time. 

Webster continued at the academy during nine months, 
and his career there, though so brief, was eminently success- 
ful — " winning," says one, " golden opinions from his teachers, 
and surprising them houi'ly by his masterly exhibitions of 
mental power." Finishing his preparatory studies under the 
tutorship of Rev. Dr. W^oods, of Brscawen — a man of great 
benevolence and goodness, and an eminent teacher — Web- 
ster entered Dartmouth College in 1797, at fifteen years of 
age. His preparation had been somewhat hurried, yet his 
examination was respectable, while the first impressions pro 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



duced upon the minds of the professors by his manners and 
bearing, as he stood up before them, was highly favorable. 
Even then his appearance is said to have been as dignified, 
easy, and elegant, as in his after life. 

Webster was diligent and faithful as a college student. 
Mathematical studies were not his favorite pursuits, and in 
these he was only respectable. He delighted in the classics, 
and cultivated them with great enthusiasm and success — ren- 
dering them into English in a style of great accuracy and 
beauty. These studies he seems to have pursued much be- 
yond the required exercises of the college. " Cicero " was, 
with him, a special favorite, with whose orations he made 
himself entirely familiar. So, also, " Virgil " was his delight; 
and so conversant was the young student with these famous 
authors, that he could repeat from memory extended pas- 
sages from the orations of the one, and the great epic of the 
other. Hence came that wonderful facility of classical quo- 
tation which was a prominent characteristic of his eloquence, 
and iu which he had no superior. In rhetorical studies, as 
well as in Moral Philosophy, he was unequaled by any of 
his classmates, and it was doubted whether, in these branches, 
he was excelled by the professors themselves. In addition 
to the prescribed studies, he read extensively, especially in 
history, poetry, and criticism. 

" In college," says one of his professors, " he was remark- 
able for his steady habits, his intense application to study, 
and his punctual attendance upon all the prescribed exercises. 
I know that he was never absent from a recitation, or from 
morning and evening prayers in the chapel, or from public 
worship on the Sabbath ; and I doubt if ever a smile was 
seen upon his face during any religious exercise. He was 
always in his place, and with a decorum suited to it. He 
emphatically minded his own business, and, as steady as the 
sun, he pursued, with intense application, the great object 
for which he came to college." 



DAKIEL WEBSTEIi. 



*' Daniel Webster," says a recent Avriter, " had sucli qua! 
ties as made every one feel that he was the first man in tl t* 
college. Tall, gaunt, and sallow, with an incomparahle for 
head, and those cavernous and brilliant eyes of his, he hj 
much of the large and tranquil presence which was so ii 
portant an clement of his power over others at all periods « 
his life. His letters of this time, as well as the recoUectioi 
of his fellows-students, show him the easy, humorous, rath< 
indolent, and strictly correct *good fellow,' whom professo 
and companions equally relished. He browsed much in tl 
college library, and had the habit of bringing to bear upc 
the lesson of the hour the information gathered in his mi 
cellaneous reading — a practice that much enlivens the m^ . 
notony of recitation." * 

Webster was graduated honorably in the summer of 180 
and returning home, he immediately entered upon the stud 
of law with a neighboring lawyer — T. W. Thompson, Esq.— ., 
graduate of Harvard College, and successful in his professio 
Desirous, however, of aiding his brother, Ezekiel, now i 
college, Webster engaged, for a little time, in teaching — tal 
ing charge of an academy in Fryeburg, Me. Here he contii 
ued nine months with much acceptance, diligently occupy in 
his leisure hours, meanwhile, in pursuing his law studies, an 
still cultivating, withal, a deeper and broader acquaintan( 
with the English classics. 

Retiring from the academy, he divided the funds wliic 
he had earned with his brother, and immediately resumes 
in the office of Mr. Thompson, his study of law. Here ^ 
continued eighteen months, most diligently and laboriousl 
prosecuting his studies. 

From the office of Mr. Thompson he entered that of Ho: 
Cliristopher Gore, an eminent lawyer of Boston. Here I 
continued seven months, engaged in reading the higher d 
partments of the law, and enjoying, in the meantime, tl 

* " North Amcricau lleview." 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



loquent and luminous instructions of Mr. Gore. He was 
dmitted to thie Bar in 1805 — highly qualified for entrance 
pon his profession. 

Webster commenced practice in Boscawen, and opened an 
ffice not far from his father's residence. His first cause was 
civil suit, his father being upon the bench, and many who 
new him from childhood were in attendance. The occasion, 
f course, was one of deep interest to the young lawyer, who 
lade a special and triumphant effort. 

At the end of two years Mr. Webster removed to Ports- 

Louth, where a wider field was opened before him for the 

ractice of his profession. Here, as associates and compet- 

ors, he entered the lists with such men as Mason, Smith, 

id others— strong men, and men of renown in their profes- 

on, and such as were capable of at once perceiving and 

)preciating the genius and abilities of the new comer. Mr. 

.Tiith, about this time, uttered the following testimony of 

r. Webster : " In single qualities I have known men supe- 

or to ]\Ir. Webster. Hamilton had more original genius. 

mcs greater quickness of imagination. Marshal, Parker, 

id Dexter were as remarkable for logical strength. But 

the union of high intellectual qualities, I have known no 

an equal to Dainel Webster." 

Several prosperous years succeeded. The young lawyer 

•plied himself with great industr}'- to his profession, while, 

the same time, he was continually enlarging his general 

::Mowledge, and rallying to himself every qualification 

^apted to insure success. And success, in his case, followed 

'iftly on the heels of diligence and energy ; and by the 

ne he was thirty years of age his nnme had become famil- 

• throughout his native State, and his reputation as a learned, 

•ong, and successful lawyer was fully established. 

Jeremiah Mason, a great and famous lawer of Portsmouth, 

H., was Webster's fit antagonist. "Mason," says one 

•iter, " was a vigilant, vigorous opponent. ... It was in 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



keen encounters with this wary and learned man that Dai 
Webster learned his profession ; and this he always ackno 
edged." "If," said he, "any body thinks I am somewhat fan 
iar with the law on some points, and should be curious to kn. 
how it happened, tell him that Jeremiah Mason compel) 
me to study it. He was my master." It should be add 
that rivals as were these two men, they were, however, fi: 
and life-long friends. ' 

It could not be that Mr. Webster should long remain" 
mere private citizen. He was not slow in developing hi:>' 
ft self as not merely a skillful and learned lawyer, but as pc • 
■* sessing many of the qualities of a broad and enlighten' 
statesmanship. Hence, he was soon pointed out as a fit ca^i- 
didate for the National Legislature, and, in November, 
1812, he was elected a representative from New Ilampshi 
to the Congress of the United States. This election was u . 
sought and unwished for by Mr. Webster, whoso decided 
preference was for private life, and an undisturbed and excl 
give devotion to the labors of his profession. 

But having been elected to Congress, he immediately b 
gan to give special attention to public affairs, and the grej 
questions then agitating the country. Thus he passed tl. 
succeeding winter, acquainting himself, so far as })ossibL 
with national politics, in order to a complete qualiticatio 
for the important trust confided to him. 

In May following his election, at a special session of Cor 
gress, he entered that body, and was immediately aftpointec 
by Speaker Clay, upon the Committee of Foreign Relation 
— ranking, in time of war, as the first in importance. Hi 
maiden speech was eminently successful, and he was listenei 
to with marked attention and interest. " Before he was hal 
through, all speculations were over ; he had mastered hi 
position, had gained his auditors, and nothing remained bu 
a deeper and deeper interest, till speaker and hearer wen 
lost iu that indescribable feeling, all-subduing spell, whici 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



m oratorical triumpli always throws around the orator." 
Tefft.) 

Daniel Webster was no longer a mere New Hampshire 
epresentative ; he was, henceforth, a national man, and 
lothed all suddenly with a national reputation. 

Our limits will not permit any minute sketch of Mr. Web- 

ter's subsequent action in this important session of Con- 

l^ess. It was a time of war with Great Britain, to which 

• ar, as a Federalist, he was sentimentally opposed, although, 

hile existing, he lent it his support. Thus closed his first 

'Ongressional term, during which, it was said of him, by 

ne of his Southern opponents, that " the North had not his 

qual, nor the South his superior." 

At the close of Mr. Webster's second Congressional term, 

e, in August, 1816, removed to Boston, having in view, by 

is change, a broader field of professional activity and enter- 

'•ise. Here, for seven years, he devoted himself strictly 

► the law, with but little participation in political affairs. 

Among the cases of the first importance in which, about this 

me, he enlisted, was that of Dartmouth College. After 

is college had been in successful operation during forty- 

ven years under a corporation of twelve trustees, the 

ew Hampshire Legislature passed an act enlarging thecor- 

)ration by the addition of nine trustees, and transferring 

'the new Board "all the property, rights, powders, liberties, 

d privileges of the old corporation." The old corporation 

sisted this change, which, being confirmed by the Supreme 

)urt of New Hampshire, was carried up, by writ of error, 

the Supreme Court of the United States, and argued by 

r. Webster for the old corporation. 

This was the occasion for one of those masterly efforts of 
ebster which have made him famous for all time. 
It was his first appearance at that august tribunal, and the 
fe of the profession were in attendance. Prof. Goodrich, 
Yale College, who went to Washington on purpose to 



8 DANIEL WEBSTER. 



hear Webster, thus describes the speaker and some attendant 
circumstances : 

"Mr. AVebster entered upon his argument in the calm tone 
of easy and dignified conversation. His matter was sc 
completely at his command, that he scarcely looked at hi;; 
brief, but went on, for more than four hours, with a state- 
ment so luminous, and a chain of reasoning so easy to be un- 
derstood, and yet approaching so nearly to absolute demon- 
stration, that he seemed to carry with him every man of his 
audience without the slightest effort or weariness on either 
side. It was hardly eloquence in the strict sense of the termj 
it was pure reason. Now and then, for a sentence or two, 
his eye flashed, and his voice swelled into a bolder note, as 
he uttered some emphatic thought ; but he instantly fell back 
into the tone of earnest conversation, which ran throughout 
the great body of his speech. 

"The argument ended. Mr. Webster stood, for some mo- 
ments, silent before the court, while every eye was fixed 
intently upon him. At length, addressing the Chief -Justice 
Marshall, he proceeded thus: 

" ' T/dSy sir, is my case! It is the case not merely of that 
humble institution, it is the case of every college in our land. 
It is more. It is the case of every eleemosynary institution 
throughout our country — of all those great charities founded 
by the piety of our ancestors to alleviate human misery and 
scatter blessings along the pathway of life. It is more ! It 
is, in some sense, the case of every man among us who has 
property of which he may bo stripped ; for the question is 
tiimply this : Shall our State Legislatures be allowed to take 
that which is not their own, to turn it from its original use, 
and ai)ply it to such ends or purposes as they, in their dis- 
cretion, shall see fit ? 

" ' Sir, you may destroy this little institution ; it is weak ; 
it is in your liands ! I know it is one of the lesser lights in 
the literary horizon of our country. You may put it out. But, 



DANIEL WEBSTER 



you do, you must carry through your work ! You must 

tinguish, one after another, all those great lights of science 

hich, for more than a century, have thrown their radiance 

er our land ! 

" ' It is, sir, as I have said, a small college, and yet there 
. e those icho love it ! ' 

" Here the feelings which he had thus far succeeded in keep- 
i'lg down, broke forth. His lips quivered, his firm cheeks 

3mhled with emotion, his eyes were tilled with tears, his 
Y<'ice choked, and he seemed struggling to the utmost sim- 
ply to gain that mastery over himself which might save him 
fvDm an unmanly burst of feeling. . . . 

"The court-room," continues Prof. Goodrich, "during 
these two or three minutes, presented an extraordinary spec- 
v-3le. Chief- Justice Marshall, with his tall, gaunt figure 

nt over as if to catch the slightest whisper, the deep fur- 

•ws of his cheek expanded with emotion, and his eyes suf- 
i ;sed with tears ; Mr. Justice Washington at his side, with 
his small and emaciated frame, and countenance more like 

irble than I ever saw on any other human being — leaning 

rward with an eager, troubled look ; and the remainder of 
• e couit, at the two extremities, pressing, as it were, toward 
i\ jingle point, while the audience below were wi-apping them- 

!ves round in closer folds beneath the bench to catch each 

: )k, and every movement of the speaker's face. . . . There 

, IS not one among the strong-minded men of that assembly 

\ \\o could think it unmanly to weep, when he saw standing 

fore him the man who had made such an argument melted 
\\o the tenderness of a child. 

"Mr. AVebster had now recovered his composure: and 
fixing his keen eye on the Chief- Justice, said — in that deep 
'>ie with which he sometimes thrilled the heart of an audi- 
./;ce — 'Sir, I know not how others may feel, (glancing at the 
opponents of the college before him, some of whom were its 
^' 'raer graduates,) but for myself, when I see my Alma 



10 DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Mater surrounded, like Caesar in the Senate house, by those 
who are reiterating stab upon stab, I would not for this right 
hand have her turn to me and say, Et tii quoquey mijilil — 
And thou, too, my son !' 

"He sat down. There was a death-like stillness throuirh- 
out the room for some moments. Every one seemed to be 
slowly recovering himself, and coming gradually back to his 
ordinary range of thought and feeling." 

Judge Story, afterward remarking upon this great effort 
of Webster, said: " For the first hour we listened to him with 
perfect astonishment ; for the second hour, with perfect de- 
light ; and for the third hour, with perfect conviction." Says 
Mr. Willard: "It is not too much to say that he (\yebster) 
entered the court, on that day, a comparatively unknown 
name, and left it with no rival but Pinckney." 

We may add from Mr. Everett ; " This case estab- 
lished Mr. Webster's reputation at the Supreme Court of 
the United States. It placed him with Emmet, Pinckney, 
and Wirt, in the front rank at the American Bar, and though 
considerably the youngest of the group, on an equality with 
the most distinguished of them. He was, henceforward, re- 
tained in almost every considerable cause argued at Wash- 
ington." 

Among the more celebrated of these causes were the great 
Steam-monopoly case of Gibbons and Ogden, the Charles 
River Bridge case, the Alabama Bank case, that of the 
Validity of Mr. Girard's Will, the Rhode Island Charter 
case, and many others ; also the celebrated trials of Good- 
ridge, at Newbury, and Knapp, at Salem, amply illustrate 
Mr. Webster's skill as a criminal lawyer to have been " un- 
surpassed at the tribunals of any country." 

Unsurpassed, likewise, must be pronounced those great 
oratorical efforts which, at different times, came from the lips 
of Mr. Webster. Among these are to be included his cele- 
brated oration at Plymouth on the anniversary of the landing 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 11 

of the Pilgrim fathers ; his orations at the laying of the cor- 
ner-stone and at the completion of the Bunker Hill Monu- 
ment ; the eulogy on Adams and Jefferson, and his discourse 
on laying the corner-stone of the Capitol extension at Wash- 
ington. 

In December, 1823, Mr. Webster again entered Congress 
— a member from Massachusetts. He held his place in the 
House till June, 1827, when, by a very large majority of the 
Massachusetts Legislature, he was transferred to the National 
Senate. He came to the Senate at forty-five years of age, 
in the bright and full maturity of his powers, and with the 
highest reputation as a lawyer, statesman, and orator. 

Not long after his entering the Senate occurred Mr. Web- 
ster's great debate with Mr. Hayne, of South Carolina. His 
second speech, in reply to Mr. Hayne, is considered the most 
celebrated effort ever occurring, before or since, in the Con- 
gress of the United States. Said one who heard the speech, 
" It was on Tuesday, January 26, 1830, a day to be hereafter 
forever memorable in Senatorial annals — that the Senate 
resumed the consideration of Foote's Resolution — the resolu- 
tion in debate. There was never before in the city an occasion 
of so much excitement. To witness this great intellectual 
contest, multitudes of strangers had, for two or three days, 
been rushing into the city, and the hotels overflowed. As 
early as nine o'clock of this morning, crowds poured into the 
Capitol in hot haste. At twelve o'clock, the hour of meet- 
ing, the Senate Chamber — its floor, galleries, and even lob- 
bies — was filled to its utmost capacity. The very stair-ways 
were dark with men, who hung to one another like bees in a 
swarm. . . . 

" Mr. Webster perceived and felt equal to the destinies of 
the moment. The very greatness of the hazard exhilarated 
him. . . . He rose and addressed the Senate. His exordium 
is known by heart every-where : * Mr. President, when the 
mariner has been tossed for many days in thick weather, 



12 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

and on an unknown sea, he naturally avails himself of the 
first ])ause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun, to 
take his latitude, and ascertain how far the elements have 
driven him from his true course. Let us imitate this pru- 
dence, and before we float farther on the waves of this de- 
bate, refer to the point from which we departed, that we 
may at least be able to form some conjecture where we now 
are. I ask for the reading of the Resolution.' " 

Mr. Marsh goes on to add that, "There wanted no more 
to enchain the attention. ... As the speech proceeded, no 
one who was not present can understand the excitement of 
the scene. No one who was can give an adequate descrip- 
tion of it. . . . No one ever looked the orator as he did. 
His countenance spake no less audibly than his words. Ilis 
manner gave new force to his language. As he stood sway- 
ing his right arm, like a huge sledge-hammer, up and down, 
his swarthy countenance lighted up with excitement, he ap- 
peared, amid the smoke, the lire, the thunder of his eloquence, 
like Vulcan in his armory forging thoughts for the gods." 
The wonderful peroration of his speech is known by every 
school-boy. As he went through it, the rush of feeling threw 
a glow over his countenance like inspiration. Eye, brow, 
each feature, every line of the face, seemed touched with a 
celestial fire. All gazed as at something more than human. 
The swell and roll of his voice struck upon the ears of the 
spell-bound audience in deep and melodious cadence as the 
waves upon the shore of the far-resounding sea." 

It is needless to add that the eifect on the hearers of this 
great speech was overpowering. As the speech closed, " the 
tones of the orator still lingered upon the ear, and the audi- 
ence, unconscious of the close, retained their positions. The 
agitated countenance, the heaving breast, the suffused eye, 
attested the continuance of the spell upon them." 

During the ten succeeding years, Mr. Webster continued 
in the Senate, and actively participated in all the great and 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 13 

stirring discussions of that eventful decade. Meanwhile, 
his j^opularity steadily increased as these years went on, and 
as his jDublic services came to be more fully understood 
and appreciated. Writes Dr. Teift, one of his biographers, 
" He was now acknowledged, on all hands, as the first Ameri- 
can statesman, and the pride of the American Republic. On 
nearly every subject which had not been incorporated into 
the creeds of the j^arties his oj^inion was of about the same 
force as law to a great majority of his countrymen. The 
whole country followed him with regard, admiration, and 
eulogiums." 

In a brief visit to Europe, in 1839, Mr. Webster found that 
his great popularity had preceded him to foreign countries. 
*' No traveler," says Mr. Everett, speaking of this visit, " has, 
probably, ever been received with equal attention in the 
highest quarters in England. Courtesies, usually paid only 
to embassadors and foreign ministers, were extended to him. 
His table Avas covered with invitations to the seats of the 
nobility and gentry." Being present, by invitation, at a cele- 
bration of the Royal Agricultural Society, after a speech, he 
attempted more than once to take his seat. But he was 
forced to continue his speech, "by the cheers, plaudits, and 
vociferous demands from every part of the assemblage ; and 
when he sat down, at the conclusion of his extempore address 
of about thirty minutes, he had said enough to convince 
every man present, and that entire England which, in less 
than three days, had read and admired his speech, that there 
was no illusion, no fiction, no exaggeration, in the American 
and European fame of the great lawyer, statesman, and ora- 
tor of his age and country." 

On the accession of Mr. Harrison to the Presidency, in 1841, 
Mr. Webster became Secretary of State. Mr. Harrison dy- 
ing at the end of one month from his inauguration, Mr. Web- 
ster, however, retained the charge of the State Department 
through the first two years of the Tyler administration. It 



14 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

was in tliis interval tliat several difficult and important ques- 
tions, of long standing, between England and this country 
were finally and happily adjusted. Of these, the two prin- 
cipal ones were that of the North-eastern boundary and that 
of the search of American vessels by British cruisers in 
African waters. 

For the settlement of these irritating questions a special 
British envoy, Lord Ashburton, wns sent to the United 
States — a gentleman of a friendly and candid disposition, 
and eminently qualified for his important mission. Mr. 
Webster met the embassador in a spirit and temper equally 
friendly with his own; and in the course of about four months 
a treaty was agreed to whereby the questions at issue were 
satisfactorily adjusted, and the treaty received the prompt 
approval of the two Governments. Thus these grave and 
dangerous questions were amicably and forever settled; and 
here Mr. Webster performed another great public service 
which, had it been the only one of his life, would have en- 
titled him to the gratitude of his country and to posterity. 

Retiring from the cabinet, after two years of most effective 
service there, Mr. Webster was privileged, after twenty years 
of continuous public life, to enjoy a brief interval of rest. 
This interval he spent partly in professional duties and partly 
upon his farms, where, in the oversight of his agricultural 
interests, in his favorite recreations of hunting and fishing, 
and in the enjoyment of his ample library, he seems to have 
passed two of tlie happiest years of his life. And this was 
well ; for they were destined to be his only years of compar- 
ative leisure, and he would soon go forth again to participate 
actively in the great and stirring movements transpiring in 
the country; and he would, henceforth, necessarily be a man 
of war, and would put off the harness only to die. 

Nor, of course, even in his few months of retirement, could 
he shut his eyes to the great public movements of the time. 
The project of Texas Annexation — a war with Mexico as a 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 15 

certain consequence ; the election of Mr. Polk to the Presi- 
dency instead of Mr. Clay — an election fraught, in the view 
of Mr. Webster, with the most serious consequences ; these 
and kindred considerations could not fail to enlist his most 
careful attention and gravest concern ; for the^ welfare of his 
country, and of the whole country, seems to have been the 
absorbing and ^^^-issionate idea of his life. 

So important, in the view of Mr. Webster, was the election 

of Mr. Clay to the Presidency, and the defeat of Mr. Polk, 

that he hesitated not to partimpate actively in the canvass. 

At the commencement of the Polk administration he resumed 

his seat in the United States Senate, as the successor of Mr. 

Choate. In spite of his efforts, the Texas Annexation 

scheme was consummated, and was followed, as ^vas fore- 

5een, by the Mexican war. Though strenuously opposed to 

,his unhappy war, yet when actually entered upon, Mr. Web- 

;ter deemed it his duty to vote the necessary supplies of sus- 

enance and troops. He gave, also, one of his sons to the 

ear, who, after enduring the hardships of the service, died 

f sickness at tlie City of Mexico. 

In closing this brief sketch of Daniel Webster, it is pain* 
Lil to be obliged to pass over several prominent events of his 
fe, of equal importance and interest with those already pre- 
mtcd. A slight space only remains for one or two personal 
Btails, and the final conclusion of his career.- 
One of his biographers thus sums up his general appear- 
ice and habits : 

" Mr. Webster's person was imposing, of commanding 
light, and well proportioned ; his head of great size ; the 
e deep-seated, large, and lustrous ; liis voice powerful, so- 
rous, and flexible ; liis action, without being remarkably 
aceful, appropriate and impressive. In debate no amount 
violence of opposition ever shook his self-possession for a 
)ment. A consummate master of argument, he touched 
t less skillfully all the chords of feeling. On occasions of 



16 DANIEL WEBSTER. 



mere ceremony he did not greatly shine ; on groat occasions 
and great subjects, with or without preparation, he had no 
superior. . . . The style of his compositions was vigorous, 
terse, pure English, free from every species of affectation, 
and marked by amnnly simplicity. . . . He went to bed and 
rose early, and dispatched the business of the day as much 
as possible in the morning hours. He was extremely fond 
of field sports, particularly fishing, and was a remark- 
ably good shot. His social tastes were strong, and his con- 
versational powers rarely eqmaled. . . . He was a regular 
attendant on public worship, a diligent student of the 
ScrijDtures, a communicating member of the Church, and a 
firm believer in the truth of Christianity as a divine reve- 
lation." 

Previously to the year 1852 — tlie year of his death — Mr. 
Webster's health had been declining. He left Washington 
for the last time in August, of the above year, and spent 
his few closing days at his home in Marshfield. His last 
visit at Boston was on September 20, from which time he 
failed rapidly. His last Will and Testament was signed 
October 21, after which, he folded his hands together and 
said, " I thank God for strength to perform a sensible act." 
He then, and " in a full voice," says Mr. Ticknor, who was 
by his side, " and with a most reverential manner, prayed 
aloud for some minutes, ending with the Lord's Prayer, 
and the ascription, ' Xow unto God the Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost, be praise for evermore ! Peace on earth and 
good-will to men ! ' " 

"I still live ! " were his last memorable words ; and about 
half past three o'clock on the morning of October 24, 1852, 
Daniel Webster fell asleep. 



2. 



(THOXTGHT-OCTLINE TO HELP THE MEMOBT.) 

Birth? Liberal education proposed? His schools and masters? Declama- 
tion a hardship? Mathematics distasteful? Devotion to college duties? 
Graduation and law studies? Teachers in law? Opponents in practice? 
Jeremiali Mason ? 

Public life? Congress? First triumph? Second term? Boston? Dart- 
mouth College case ? Other celebrated cases ? 

Congress again? Debate with Mr. Hayne? Europe? Character-sketch? 
Closing scenes ? 



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William Hickling Prescott. By 

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Wise Sayings of the Common 

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William Shakespeare. By Daniel 

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Geometry. 

The Stars. By C. M. We.stlake, M.S. 
John Milton. By Daniel Wise, D.D. 
Penmanship. 
Housekeeper's Guide. 
Tbemistocles and Pericles. 

Plutarch.) 
Alexander. (From Plutarch.) 
Coriolanus and Maximus. 

Plutarch.) "~~^ 

Demosthenes and Alcibiades. 

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Readings from 

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A Set of Tools 



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Stones. By Alfred Taylor. 
Memory Practice. 
Gold and Silver. By Alfred Taylor. 
Meteors. By C. M. Westlake, M.S. 
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France. By J. I. Boswell. 
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Art in Greece. Part II. 
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Art in Land of Saracens. 
Art in Northern Europe. Part I. 
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Art in Western Asia. By E. C 

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